Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri called Wednesday after talks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry for the Saudi-led “Decisive Storm” military operation in Yemen to shift to Syria to remove the regime of President Bashar Assad for killing its people. The head of the Future Movement also lashed out at Iran for meddling in the internal affairs in Lebanon ...

U.N. special adviser to Yemen Jamal Benomar is planning on stepping down from his job and U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon is considering appointing a Mauritanian diplomat to the post as the civil war escalates, a U.N. diplomatic source said on Wednesday. Benomar, a veteran Moroccan diplomat, had recently irked Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations for his handling of so ...

Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri will visit Washington next week for talks with senior U.S. officials in the latest of his regional and foreign trips aimed at shielding Lebanon from the repercussions of regional turmoil, political sources said Wednesday. The sources did not give further details, but media reports said Secretary of State John Kerry is among senior U.S. officials ...

The Egyptian government led by Abdel Fattah al-Sisi seems to be unable to deal with the growing, non-stop Islamist insurgency on its territory. Almost every day there are reports of army operations against Sinai-based terrorists and/or terrorist attacks against security personnel, government structures or civilian targets. On Tuesday, assailants shot and killed a policeman and wounded two others in Qalyubia ...

SYDNEY’S stellar run of double-digit home price growth looks set to run out of steam next year. HSBC Australia chief economist Paul Bloxham says he expects the Reserve Bank to hike interest rates in 2016, a move that will cool Sydney’s booming property market. “Sydney house prices are running at an unsustainable pace,” he said. “Purchasers need to be very ...

Aid agencies warned Monday of a growing humanitarian crisis including food shortages in Yemen as Saudi-led warplanes hit rebel positions for a third week and rival forces clashed. In Riyadh, Yemen’s Prime Minister Khaled Bahah was sworn in as vice president at the country’s embassy in front of exiled President Abed Rabbou Mansour Hadi. Hadi, meanwhile, in a New York ...

Two separate bomb attacks targeting security forces in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula killed at least 13 people and wounded dozens on Sunday, the latest in a wave of violence in a region hit by an Islamist insurgency. Egypt’s military said a roadside bomb detonated by militants killed six soldiers and wounded two others in an attack on an armored military vehicle ...

Syrian rebels and regime forces in Aleppo fought fierce battles near the headquarters of Air Force intelligence Monday evening on the third day of the regime’s stepped-up “barrel bomb” offensive against the northern city, prompting officials to close schools for a week in rebel-held areas. The Shamiah Front rebel alliance claimed responsibility for the second detonation of the Air Force ...

Hillary Clinton needed no hoopla to announce her candidacy for the Democratic nomination for the next US presidential election. In lieu of a stage and a sea of supporters, of a rock anthem and a shower of streamers and balloons, there was just a mid-afternoon tweet and an online video. “I’m running for president. Everyday Americans need a champion, and ...

Fierce clashes raged Monday between insurgents and loyalists in southern Yemen, driving the rebel forces from some of their positions while leaving more than 140 dead in 24 hours. The southern militias’ gains came on the 12th day of an air campaign by Saudi Arabia and mainly Gulf Arab allies trying to stem advances by the Iran-allied Houthis, who control the capital ...